Alleged illegal mining in Pathankot, Hoshiarpur and Gurdaspur districts today came under judicial scanner with the filing of a petition in public interest on the issue before the Punjab and Haryana High Court.
In his petition against the state of Punjab and other respondents, Karan Singh through counsel Saurav Bhatia sought directions for a thorough probe and a complete stop on illegal mining. Describing it as illegal, unjust and arbitrary, Bhatia submitted that it was also endangering the agricultural process in the nearby villages, besides putting the environment in danger
He added that illegal mining was being carried out at enormous scale despite the lockdown after taking benefit of “lesser public scrutiny”. He said the auction of these sites had not taken place and illegal mining was being undertaken by the sand mafia. Taking up the petition, the Bench of Chief Justice Ravi Shanker Jha and Justice Arun Palli fixed August 24 as the next date of hearing .
